Students from all over Texas will come together to participate in a competition revolving around a specific hobby: art. Paintings, sculptures, photographs and other creative pieces will be brought to Pittsburg, Texas to compete in region 8. Many competitors will gather together in hopes that their works of art will be noticed in order to advance to state.

The regional Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) will be held on Feb. 16. Every student with at least one visual art credit has the opportunity to participate in this event. If a person qualifies at regionals, they will move on to state and potentially win an art scholarship.

Art teachers prepare their students for the upcoming competition by giving students class time to work on their pieces and assisting them with ideas.

“I’ve been getting students to work on their projects during class, and if they can work on them at home, that’s an advantage also,” art instructor Tyson Feemster said. “I’ve been trying to help them come up with ideas to help stimulate their creativeness to put in their piece.”

Information regarding the competition such as rules and requirements are available on the VASE website. A student can submit up to two pieces of artwork, and each piece comes with a submission fee of $17. Thousands of students all over Texas will be competing in the competition this upcoming February, including freshman Aislyn Echols.

“One of my old middle school teachers actually inspired me to do art in the first place and told me I have talent,” Echols said, “So, I want to put my talent to use.”